Media Release                                                 November 16, 2009

Expanded rural media awards search for best in the bush

• First national rural broadcasting award announced
• $1000 for best rural writing
• Prizes for best people, production and landscape photos

Three major national awards for journalists and photographers covering rural issues have been announced today by the Australian Council for Agricultural Journalists (ACAJ).

“The annual Star Prize Awards are the most prestigious national awards dedicated to celebrating excellence in our rural media, with finalists selected by Australia’s five rural press clubs,” said ACAJ president Liz Harfull.

“With the introduction this year of the first ever Star Prize for Rural Broadcasting, the program now provides opportunities for people working across every media sector, from traditional print, television and radio outlets, to internet-based media,” she said.

“The awards have been growing in stature every year, not least because the winners have the opportunity to represent Australia in an international competition against the best in the world.

“And in recent years we have had amazing success, taking out the world prize for photography in 2008, and having finalists in the top three for both writing and photography in 2009. Now, for the first time in 2010, we will have the chance to put our broadcast journalists on the world stage too.”

The Star Prize program this year includes:

• The first ever Australian Star Prize for Rural Broadcasting, with four categories covering television, radio, and online radio and video stories produced primarily for broadcast via the internet.
  
  
• The Australian Star Prize for Rural Writing, sponsored by John Deere, with prize money of $1000 for the national winner, and
  
  
• The Australian Star Prize for Rural Photography, with separate categories for the best people, production, and landscape or nature photos, as well as an overall award.

The national winners will go on to compete in the global Star Prize awards program run by the International Federation of Agricultural Journalists (IFAJ). The IFAJ is a professional organisation which represents rural media and communicators from about 30 countries across six continents, including Australia.

International winners will be announced at the IFAJ’s 2010 annual congress in Ostend, Belgium, April 17 to 21.
Entrants for the Australian awards are selected at a state level by rural press clubs affiliated with the ACAJ, including:

• Farm Writers’ Association of NSW Inc
• Rural Media South Australia
• Rural Media Association of Western Australia
  
• Rural Press Club of Queensland
• Rural Press Club of Victoria

Selection processes and deadlines vary in each State. For more information contact your local organisation, or visit the ACAJ website at www.acaj.org.au   Rules & criteria information

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Editor’s please note: For more information on the awards contact ACAJ president Liz Harfull on 0409 674 941 or email lizk@adam.com.au